Banos

Banos is the main mountain resort of Ecuador. Situated in 8 kilometers from the active volcano Tungurahua. Volcano erupts regularly and residents of the city are always ready to evacuate. In 1999 the city was evacuated completely, but as a result it was only slightly covered with ashes. Many locals were so frightened that they sold their homes for ridiculous money. During our visit the volcano also produced smoke.

What to do here:
 - a very beautiful location, in a valley between high mountains
 - go to the valley of waterfalls, either on a tour bus or on bike ($7 per day) or scooter
 - visit the viepoint Bellavista (photo in the end of the article)
 - visit the viepoint Antennas (photo), $15 return for a taxi
 - visit a wonderful place Casa Del Arbol
 - visit a thermal pool. One pool is located under the town waterfall, but it is always crowded with people ($2). Second one (El Salado) is further, about 3 kilometers from the center.
 - visit zoo (ecozoosanmartin.com), on a taxi for $3
 - around the town there are several hiking trails, take a map in the tourist information office on the T. Halflants street
 - various extreme sports: rafting on the Pastaza river ($30), canoeing ($30), paragliding, rock climbing, bungee ($20), mountain bike
 - many travel companies offer tours to the jungle, but it is more convenient to go to the jungle from Puyo or Misahuali
 - you can travel on bike to Puyo (61 km). It's the same road as to the valley of waterfalls, mostly goes down, only further. You can return back on the buses that take bikes on the roof. But we did not do so, so search for information.

Among the town attraction I can only notice the cathedral made of the volcanic stone.

You can walk through the main streets and a couple of squares. By the way, Baños is much safer city than Quito.














The city is full of hotels from $20, but we decided to stay in hotel Luna Runtun (booking.com), read our the article about this hotel.

Travel companies in Baños
Tungurahua Volcano Webcams

Getting there: By bus from Quito (3.5 hours, $3.5), Riobamba (2 hours, $2) or Guayaquil (5.5 hours, $7). Most buses from Quito depart from terminal Terrestre Quitumbe. The best and fastest buses are Expreso Baños. The terminal is better to reach on a taxi for $10-15 from the center of Quito. Bus schedule from Baños.